Legislators look to upcoming General Assembly
The Iowa Capitol
OSKALOOSA- On November 8, Iowa voters drastically altered the makeup of the state legislature as they overwhelmingly gave control of the legislature to Republicans. Going into the November 8 election, Republicans controlled the Iowa House 57 seats to 42 seats. In the Iowa Senate, Democrats held 26 seats, while Republicans held 23 seats, and one Senator was formally unaffiliated with any party (however he had previously been a Republican). In the election, Republicans gained two seats, including defeating a two-term incumbent in northeast Iowa. The biggest shockwave was in the Senate, where Republicans defeated six incumbents, including Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, to firmly seize control of the Senate.
Since the election, much has happened, including leadership elections. Bill Dix (R-Shell Rock) will lead Senate Republicans as Majority Leader, while Jack Whitver (R-Ankeny) was elected by the Senate Republican Caucus to be Senate President. Senate Democrats meanwhile elected Rob Hogg (D-Cedar Rapids), to serve as Senate Minority Leader. Hogg had previously finished second, statewide, in the Democratic US Senate Primary in 2016. Amanda Ragan (D-Mason City) was selected to be Minority Whip. In the House, no major changes were recorded in the leadership of House Republicans or Democrats.
Looking towards the next legislative session, local state representative, Guy Vander Linden, says that the party now has an opportunity.
“Now the responsibility falls entirely on our shoulders. We can no longer blame the senate for all ill-will,” Vander Linden said. “We’re going to be held responsible now for anything that goes right and everything that goes wrong,” he also said.
Senator Ken Rozenboom said that the election results showed a major shift in voters’ attitude in Iowa.
“It’s a rejection of the status quo. It’s a rejection of the concept of government fixing everything,” Rozenboom said. “You don’t pick up six senate seats in Iowa very easily,” he added.
Vander Linden said that moving forward, he sees Republicans being able to accomplish more proposals.
“The agenda will likely change because things that were virtually impossible, that we felt strongly about, now become possible,” he said.
He noted that in years past, numerous items that had passed the Republican controlled house, had been stopped in the Democrat controlled senate almost immediately.
“That’s going to change everything,” Vander Linden said of Republicans controlling the senate.
Vander Linden also expressed concern that the party should stay focused on the issues at hand, and not get into intra-party squabbles.
“What I’m afraid of, is that we won’t stay focused,” he said. “If we can do that, we can be very effective with helping Iowans having a better life,” he added.
Earlier this fall, it was announced that Vander Linden will be the Chairman of the house Ways and Means committee at the start of the legislative session. Vander Linden, who said the appointment is an honor, said that as Chairman, he will focus on bills that address taxes and regulations.
“I’d like to see a significant reduction in regulations, in business and industry in particular,” he said.
Rozenboom agreed, and said that simplifying the tax code and reducing government regulation would be a possible item for the senate to consider in the upcoming session.
Vander Linden and Rozenboom both acknowledged that there will likely be a push for Republicans to address items such as gay marriage and abortion. Vander Linden said that it would be important for the legislature to address issues such as taxes, regulations, and education funding first, and then address potential social issues later in the session.
“I think we can get around to a lot of that stuff later in the session,” he said.
Rozenboom noted that on the issue of same-sex marriage, it would be difficult for Republicans to address it, as the United States Supreme Court essentially legalized same-sex marriage in 2015 in Obergefell v. Hodges. He did acknowledge, however, that the issue of abortion could be addressed somewhat. He noted that in the last session, an amendment to a bill he had proposed, which would eliminate any state funding to Planned Parenthood, failed on a 25-25 vote, with one Democrat voting yes.
“We will eliminate any funding to Planned Parenthood,” Rozenboom said.
On the issue of education funding, Vander Linden said that he predicts the issue will be settled very early in the upcoming legislative session.
“Education will not go to the end of the session,” he said. “That has been, frankly in my opinion, a Democrat ploy to keep that issue, an issue,” he added.
Rozenboom acknowledge that Republicans in the legislature will likely take a hard look at reforming Chapter 20 Collective Bargaining rules in Iowa.
“We have to give the school boards tools to use to negotiate with teachers,” Rozenboom said.
Vander Linden agreed. “That particular issue would be one I would really want to get into, yes,” he said. “There’s a lot of opportunity, in my opinion, to make things better,” Vander Linden added.
A major issue talked about during the fall campaign in Iowa was the issue of Medicaid privatization and the general state of Iowa’s mental health system. Rozenboom acknowledged that the initial start of the Medicaid privatization was a rough rollout.
“I think some of those things have been taken care of,” he said of initial hiccups with the rollout.
He noted that under the previous system, the state was spending a large chunk of money on Medicaid. He said that the state could not continue to do that.
“We have other things to do in the state than fund Medicaid,” Rozenboom said.
Vander Linden agreed, noting that under the previous system, Iowa would have to pay close to $150 Million.
“We could not stay in the old system,” he said. “There is no other choice. We have to make this work.”
Vander Linden and Rozenboom both noted that the issue of Iowa’s Mental Health offerings also has to be addressed, rather than passed onto local police forces.
“I don’t want to turn the jails into mental hospitals,” Vander Linden said.
Rozenboom said that there has always been a problem with the number of beds in Iowa’s mental health systems, as well as the number of psychiatrists. He said, however, that he did not think that the closure of Mental Health Institutes (MHI) in Mt. Pleasant and Clarinda , had had a large impact on the numbers of beds in the state.
